Who Am I?
by Dark Mage Girl Xion
Summary: Joana is a girl who doesnt know who she is and has never heard the word "love" or "I love you" before and is willing to know everything all at once. Her world is a mystery to her, but who is willing to take that risk and help her? For AussieJimFan!


**Hi readers, Dark Mage Girl Xion here with a new fic! It's been so long since I've written anything but Malicious Intentions, but AussieJimFan asked me to write this for her through PMs, and she gave me all her specifications and such, so as much as I hope everyone enjoys this, I really hope that she will enjoy this! It's my first beginning in a while, so please be kind!**

**Who Am I**

**Chapter 1**

Ring ring!

The final bell of the day rung out across the school on a beautiful fall afternoon. All the students were more than relieved that it was the end of the week and they had the weekend to relax, even if only a little as they had homework. But no one was thinking about that as everyone rushed out of the school like a pack of wolves.

No one, that is, but Joana Marie Stone. Joana was a timid girl who spent all of her time outside of classes in her dorm room, alone, doing whatever she could to keep herself busy and away from everyone else. It wasn't that she didn't like people. No, that wasn't the case at all! She was only nervous to connect with people, and let them in. So as she made her way to her dorm, you can imagine her surprise when someone spoke to her out of the blue.

"Why hello there, mate. You're not going to you're room already, are you?" An Australian accented young man asked her as he came up beside her.

He was Jim "Crocodile" Cook, a transfer student at Duel Academy Central from South Academy. He had seemed to make friends quickly with a strong group of duelists that was known through out the school, though not too many students tended to get close to them. They always seemed to be caught up in some problem that affected the future of the school or the world or something.

The two weren't that far from the school yet, as it had only been a few minutes since the final bell had rung. How he knew that was where she was heading was beyond her. Though she didn't mind the fact too much that it was him talking to her, she still asked him, "So what if I am? I can go there if I want to."

Joana, you see, had a bit of a tendency to get annoyed easily, especially when she felt she was being intruded on. It was almost a survival instinct to her, but I won't get into why that is now.

"Now now, there's no need to get defensive. I was only going to suggest maybe you come and have some fun." Jim said, putting his hands up in front of himself to show he meant no harm. At that moment, however, someone who wasn't as harmless came up behind him.

Joana jumped as Jim's pet crocodile came up behind him, growling non-menacingly at her. That was where the "Crocodile" part of Jim's name came from. Everyone knew of her, and everyone was slightly apprehensive whenever she was around. Except for Jim, that is.

"Heya, Shirley. Did you have fun exploring?" Jim asked, turning to Shirley and kneeling down beside her to rub her long snout, almost forgetting about Joana in the process. She was just about to slip away when Jim said, "You don't have to be afraid of her, she's harmless."

Joana sighed inwardly, feeling slightly annoyed he seemed determined to not let her go back to her dorm room. She felt anxious being out here like this, and for anyone else she would have already been long gone. But Jim was… different, for lack of a better word. She couldn't help but feel slightly intrigued by his slightly odd mannerisms, such as walking around with a crocodile strapped to his back. He seemed to be fearless, while she was filled with fear.

"I really should be getting back to my dorm now." Joana said, and she would have said more as well, but she was stopped.

"You know, I've been noticing for a while that that's always what you do. It seems like whenever we don't have classes you go right to your room or just stay there as much as humanly possible. And I don't think that's healthy." Jim explained to her as he continued to scratch Shirley's nose. He then picked her up and put her on his back. "So I'm going to make a request. Come hang out with my friends and I. At least give it a chance."

Joana was a bit taken aback by the fact he had seemed to have been watching her. He was the first person who'd noticed that, and she couldn't believe he had. "How do you know that? Are you stalking me?" She asked him, her voice playing on a hint of childishness.

Jim smiled at her, trying to show he meant her no harm. "You're always alone, even during times we're allowed to be social. That stands out more to me then someone in the middle of a group of friends."

Joana looked at him like he was crazy. She didn't want to stand out. She didn't want to be noticed. If she wasn't noticed, she couldn't be hurt. But here was Jim saying that what she saw as 'not being noticed' screamed to Jim 'notice me!' "So, what, you want to be my super hero and give me a social life because I'm obviously lacking? Well, I'm fine alone. I was fine before you came here, and I'll be fine after you leave." She claimed, still keeping up her defensive wall. A part of her wanted to let him in, but a bigger part of her wasn't willing to do that yet.

"Come on, just give us all a chance. I don't want your appreciation or your hatred, I just want to be your friend." He explained to her, not losing his patience with her. He understood this was hard for her. Little did she know that he had been much like her back at South Academy. Not many people wanted to be friends with the Crocodile Boy.

Joana looked him up and down with just her eyes. He seemed sincere with what he was asking her. He really looked like he was just worried about her wellbeing. And how could she just turn a blind eye to that. "Alright. I'll come. Just…" She said, pausing for a moment after saying that last word. What did she want to say? Don't hate her? Don't be angry with her if she messed up? "Don't push too hard. If you push too hard, I'll probably just run away." She said truthfully to him, looking for him to lead the way.

Jim smiled at the girl gently, and he, in a bold movement, ruffled her hair gently with his hand. "Just be yourself. Everything will be just fine if you do that."

'But who am I?' She asked herself silently, truly meaning that question. She didn't want to dwell on that question, however, because it touched in something she didn't like to think about. But Jim was being so kind to her, she wanted to return the favor.

"So, is this school anything like South Academy?" She asked him, working at being friendlier. She really did want to be his friend if nothing else as he'd always struck her as someone special, someone that she should keep an eye on. She wasn't sure what that feeling was called, but she did have a bit of a guess.

"I'd say they're practically the same, except for the students and teachers are different. Other than that, they're pretty similar." Jim explained to her honestly, glad she seemed to be warming up to him a little. He just wanted to see her smile. Nothing, however, could have prepared him for what she asked next.

"Hey, Jim, I have a bit of an odd question for you. What is love?" She asked, again letting a little bit of childishness shine through her tough exterior.

Jim didn't get the chance to answer, however, as just at that moment they arrived where Jim's friends were, which was over by the Slifer dorms. She knew they all often hung out around there as it wasn't the most popular place to find people.

"Jim, there you are! We thought you were going to miss our mini duel tournament. We were just about to disqualify you!" A boy the same age as Jim and Joana with chocolaty brown hair with a splash of orange called to Jim, but then he seemed to notice the girl with him. "Did you bring another contestant?"

"Only if she'd like to join us. This is Joana." Jim introduced her, giving her an encouraging smile.

"I know Joana. You're in the dorm next to mine, right?" The blonde teenager asked her. She was known as the queen of Duel Academy, but she wasn't all that people thought she was.

"Yes, that's right. And you're Alexis." Joana said to her. Since the two roomed right next to each other and were in the same year, they had talked a couple of time in the past, but never enough to call each other friends.

"I'm Jaden!" exclaimed the boy who ad spoken before. "Hey, you want to join out mini tournament? It's single elimination, and whoever wins gets this trophy I found in the well of weak cards." Jaden explained to her, holding up a dinky, dirty little trophy.

Joana had no idea what to say. Everything was happening so fast that she could hardly keep up with what was going on.

"There's still more people to introduce first, Jaden." Another boy said, this one with teal hair and emerald eyes, along with a nice southern accent. "I'm Jesse, and this is Syrus, Chazz, Atticus, and Hasselberry."

"Nice to meet you all." Joana mumbled this a bit, but Jim was glad. She seemed to be at least accepting the fact that these people could actually be her friends. And he found himself wanting that desperately.

"So, do you want us to add your name to the list of participants?" Jaden asked her, obviously quite excited for the little tournament they had planned. Then again, it did have a lot to do with dueling, and everyone knows just how much Jaden likes to duel.

"I think that's a great idea. What says more about a person than their cards and how they duel?" Jim replied for Joana, not wanting her to back out of it. He had a feeling it would be good for her.

"Well, if you insist…" Joana answered Jim, and their tournament began.

****

A couple hours later and many, many duels having passed, they finally had their victor. It was Jaden, and his last opponent had been none other then Joana herself. She was a pretty decent duelist, and everyone else was dueling very relaxed because it was nothing more than a game at the moment.

"Wow, look at that. Joana came in second place. And you didn't want to come." Jim said teasingly to the girl, only trying to poke fun at her a little to make her laugh. She'd looked very nature when she'd dueled with her Amazon deck, and she'd won every duel right up until the end when she'd faced Jaden. None of them knew she was a good duelist. She never gave herself the chance to shine.

"I think I'm going to go back to my dorm now." Joana said, truly at her wits end. It was the most time she spent outside of her dorm on the island since she had been at Duel Academy, except for when she was at classes. But she wasn't necessarily unhappy she'd come. She'd had… fun.

"I'll walk you back, then." Jim said, not fighting her on it. She'd spent hours with them, and he'd gotten to see another side of her he hadn't before. Plus, he still had to answer her question from before.

Joana nodded to him and started to lead the way to the girls' blue dormitories, not looking at him as she walked. She wasn't sure why he'd wanted to come, but she didn't necessarily mind it either. After a little while, Jim spoke.

"Joana, have you ever had a boyfriend before? On second thought, have you ever been on a date before?" Jim asked her, her earlier question still on his mind. He had a feeling she hadn't but he wanted to hear that from her first before he said what he wanted to.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" She asked, but then she remembered what she had asked him before, and she realized where this was coming from. She felt a faint blush paint her cheeks, but it didn't matter so much as Jim couldn't see.

"Then I have a proposition for you. I can't really explain what love is, but I would definitely like to show you. Would you be my girlfriend, Joana Stone?" He asked her, using her full name as a play on being formal toward her.

Joana was totally and completely taken of guard by this question. Was he serious? Did he really want to go out with her, of all people? "I think I'd like that very much, Jim." She answered truthfully, turning to him now. "So, does this mean we're a couple?" She asked him, a little unsure of herself.

Jim took her hand in his and brushed his lips against it as a smile played across his feature. "_That_ makes it official." He said teasingly.

"Okay…" She said, trailing off as she didn't know what to say. "I think I can make it the rest of the way back." She started off at a bit of a run, but stopped when she heard Jim call after her.

"Joana, let's hang out in my dorm tomorrow, okay?" He shouted to her, and he saw her seem to think about it and then nod her head. She then continued on her way, and Jim smiled to himself.

"I will get you to come out of the shell, Joana, no matter how long it takes me."

**Alright, I finally finished chapter 1! I've been working on it for a while now, and I'm happy with the outcome! I really hope you like how I wrote it, AussieJimFan, and I hope everyone else who reads it likes it too. Don't forget to read and review and let me know what you think of it!**


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